The market desires a highly elastic, breathable, nonwoven fabric with the necessary aesthetic qualities that requires no form of mechanical activation. Existing products are complex laminates comprised of an elastic film: typically a styrenic block copolymer (“SBC”) or polyurethane as the elastic film that has polyolefin skins coextruded onto the film to prevent blocking, and nonwovens in order to provide the correct aesthetic (a soft, fluffy, cushion-like texture) and in certain constructions a hot melt glue layer to bond the nonwoven to either side of the elastic film. These types of constructions, once formed, are often not elastic due to the constraining influence of the inelastic components such as the polyolefin skin layers and nonwoven facing layers.
In order to remove the constraining influence of non-elastic elements, many composites require a mechanical stretching or activation process in order to stretch or break the non-elastic components. The mechanical stretching removes the constraints and creates an elastic composite controlled by the SBC film. Furthermore, such composites require the film to be apertured in order to make these laminates breathable. This process involves the controlled puncturing/tearing of the film with the associated concerns for film failure and increased scrap rates.
Recently, film composites have arrived on the market that do not require mechanical activation. These products still comprise a SBC film layer with a highly extensible spunlaced layer attached to either side of the film using thin lines of hot melt glue. The regions between the glued areas are not constrained and therefore elastic because the film does not have a coextruded skin and the nonwoven is extensible and non-restraining. However, these products are not breathable, require adhesives, and like all of the film laminate products are costly to produce.